The Prime Minister on Jan. 7 issued his conclusion on the results of Hanois My Dinh Stadium construction inspection, saying inspectors did not discover any corruption at the project.

Construction at the My Dinh National Sports Complex was implemented on schedule with guaranteed quality, states the PMs dispatch.

The total construction expense of the center stadium, part of the National Sports Complex, did not exceed the bid rate, said the PMs dispatch. The bidding price was $US 52.98 million. Up to now, the investor has paid $US 47.18 million to the contractor and kept $ 5.8 million as warranty.

But, the dispatch also stressed the need to review the mistakes in its investment management for immediate correction.

Accordingly, mistakes were mainly found at the stadium and the aquatic sports section.

No clear origins

The fault lies with the project management under the Committee of Sports and Physical Training and the consultant and supervisor Coninco Co. under the Ministry of Construction for the use of equipment and machinery without known origins, says the PMs dispatch.

The head of the Committee of Sports and Physical Training and the Construction Minister are required to deal with the responsible officials this month and then report to the PM.

There are sufficient certificate of origins for all of the equipment and machinery but their labels do not name the countries of origin and some of them do not even have labels.

The cost of equipment used for the stadium amounted to 5.33 million USD or 29.58 percent of the total project figure. Meanwhile, equipment used for the aquatic sports section totaled nearly 1.46 million USD and 211 million VND, or 23.46 percent of the project.

The PM asked for further investigation into the origins and real value of the equipment to see if it meets the required quality standards.

The project management was told to ask contractors to hand in documents to prove the origins of the equipment and to take responsibility for replacing or repairing equipment which has broken down or is out of order.

Besides, the Ministry of Finance was asked to form a task group to evaluate price discrepancies when improper or non-original equipment was replaced with new equipment as well as define the projects total construction volume and value.

All assigned work must be completed ahead of the construction warranty date, said the PM. Contractors must pay verification fees.

When all the issues are clarified, all the agencies and individuals involved will be punished based on the degree of damage, says the dispatch.

Permission not sought

Also, the Committee of Sports and Physical Training and the project management were requested to take responsibility for having increased the construction volume and scale of the aquatic sports section without seeking the PMs permission.

This is against the regulations of construction investment management, said the PM.

Due to the increase in construction, the investment capital for the section was adjusted at more than 239.23 billion VND from the previously-estimated 199.6 billion VND, according to the Construction Ministry and the Economics Institute

However, investigators have not agreed on the adjusted 239.23 billion VND as appraised by the Ministry and the Institute. According to investigators, the figure should be reduced by nearly 17.03 billion VND.

The PM has ordered a re-appraisal in January and indicated that this is due to the project managements lack of responsibility, as well as the Economics Institute and the Construction Ministry.

Reported by Manh Quan – Translated by T.H.